kongwacker

Kossie has been a great success in his first 99 games and his development into a great team player has been a joy to witness. For anyone who can, I would love to see statistical comparison at first 100 games mark of he and Cyril Rioli. From my admittedly average memory, I think Kossie might have Cyril covered. He certainly inspires the crowd to expect the unexpected whenever he is near the ball, much the same way Cyril did. I look forward to many years watching Kossie do what most others can only dream of doing, and isn’t that why we pay our money to witness elite sports-people do their thing. It will be great reward for Kossie if his fantastic abilities can contribute in a major way to a few more flags for him and his team mates. Continue that journey of reward in your hundredth on Saturday evening Kossie.

Welcome to season 2024 gentlemen. George, thumbs up for your excellent report ‘Nought from Zero’ on our opening encounter. I thought point by point you crisply highlighted the reasons for our first up mis-step, like you I am choosing my words carefully, it’s too early in the season to be too harsh. We saw in the practice match against the Blues some signs of improvement in our F50 entries with an emphasis on low hard flat kicks, suggesting there had been some off season work in this area. However when the real money is on the table for 4 premiership points the new found kicking/disposal skills disappeared under real game day pressure. The Sydney coaching panel, led by the best in the business had done their homework and unravelled us quite easily in the end. Longmire has shown the rest of the competition how to upset the Demons. I would like to hear from the panel how we best respond, beginning with selection, not ending there, but please also discuss how we exploit the Dogs backline, is it simply switch up to preseason Blues game style entries, one can hope.

My mistake, just checked fixture, thought we had 2 games then the bye.

@Webber, how about Clarry misses next 3 weeks,, not games

Is the football department making a feeble attempt to deceive. In this morning’s Age TMac named as an emergency and not named as an out. i find it difficult to believe that the FD go into this game with no Max, or Kozzie, a debutant forward and no TMac, unless of course TMac is genuinely an injury withdrawal.

G’day Andy, George and Binman, enjoying the post game podcasts ruminations, analysis and forecasts again, please keep up the great work. I have recently moved to northern NSW, on Friday afternoon I drove 150 kms to Brisbane and dealt with the difficult parking situation around the Gabba on game day. All very different to MCG in many respects. I’ve been spoiled for the last 60 years. Arrived at the ground as mfc bus was dropping off the team, (we allowed plenty of time to deal with car parking issues) everyone looking very relaxed, I made the comment to another supporter, “they don’t look like men on a mission” Observations: Qualified by “it is only round 2.” Game reminiscent of our lightning interrupted game in Perth against Eagles. Team leading at the interruption comes out to save the game on resumption, team trailing has nothing the lose, throws everything at it. Same result, leading team hangs on for the win, any other result would have been unjust. Last time we won this time we lost. Signs not good in the first quarter, we heard from track watchers in the preseason that the team was practising fast ball movement using the “receive possession, 3,2,1 countdown now dispose effectively to the team benefit”. That did not happen before the interruption, there was no urgency while in possession and there was a lack of pressure when we didn’t have the ball. Is this all above the shoulders stuff? Our method or lack of it, reminiscent of season 2019, poor disposal, bees to the honeypot for contested possession, no apparent system. Not enough pressure when we don’t have the ball. We are better than this. Lever was terrific down back and is a strong leadership presence in the backline. Other parts of the ground there appeared to be a complete lack of leadership in Max’s absence. Bontempelli is a star midfielder and very regularly his classy finishing inspires his team. Similarly Trac, Viney and Clarry are midfield stars, however so often their finishing deflates their team and their possessions become ineffective. A positive, Ben Brown and Sparrow had reasonably good games. TMac and Petty are a lot better than what we have seen this season, stick with them for a while yet. Stick with Chandler and McVee for another few weeks in this early part of the year, they both have talent. Gus has to work on adding value to his possessions. We do need to unearth powerful, strong pack-marking forwards who are technically proficient and reliable kicks for goal. And JT while you are out shopping, a Nick Daicos type and a Jack Crisp type would do nicely, or are these types already on the list? Am I being too harsh this early into the season? I would like to hear your opinions on any/all of the observations.

Andy, George and Binman, commiserations on our finals results, I would normally say unreservedly I am looking forward to the podcast however if others feel like I do I wonder what you are in for by way of contributions and questions. I am sure your reasoned and balanced views will prevail again. I have refrained from knee jerk reaction and some 60 hours after the result have tempered my thoughts or tried to. However my disappointment and anger does not want subside no matter how I try to rationalise this semi final result. Football is an important fabric of this city, it has grown from tribal/municipal roots into a national game. Trust is a key component in relationships, right down to the seemingly benign football club football member/supporter relationship. We would all like to barrack for, support or belong to(be a member of) a team we trust to consistently put in good effort week on week. It took a long time to begin to trust my team and club again after the Barassi exit and the Smith sacking but gradually that trust retuned in the Northey years, waned again in the up/down Daniher years and returned again in the middle part of the magnificent 2021 season culminating in the never forgotten finals campaign and the glorious premiership. The Goodwin years showed an alternating mix of good promise only to be dashed by games like the 2018 prelim. The following year (2019)as some sort of internal rationalising/cleansing I referred to the coach as Simon Badloss, it was fitting. In the early Covid years I was not convinced by his game style nor his media appearances(which as uninformed members and supporters was all we had to judge the team and club by) and of course each weeks game and results. While 2020 saw improvement the finish to the season was unsatisfactory and dispiriting. The 2021 wonderful and uplifting finals series was followed by players and staff expressing a strong and united desire to repeat the effort in front of members and supporters on the MCG in 2022. The manner of our dismissal from this finals series left me angry and disillusioned. Maybe the signs were there and I refused to remove the blinkers; the first 10 wins of the year I thought the coach/team had applied the handbrake once we got in front - why. The Steven May restaurant incident had me flip flopping between “boys will be boys” and “is there some disquiet within”. After the R22 Carlton game I posed the question, “did anyone see what I thought I saw” many of our top liners walking with peculiar gaits, ie not moving freely and looking injured. Wasn’t seen in play but walking off and back on at half time, 3/4 time etc. and away from the ball in game time. The very issue that stamped our authority in 2021, competitiveness, coming from behind to win and running out games disappeared in the second half this season. Along with many others I had faith(blind faith?)that we would come good when we needed to, not even the qualifying loss to Sydney and the manner of it interrupted my blind faith. So now this 60 year MCC/MFC member is back to being a doubter and my trust in the team, if not the club as well, is back where it has been most of my supporting life. Does that make me fickle or a new realist, I have the off-season to work it out. On any judgement the last half of this season does not sit well alongside the previous season and a half. I feel the club owes its members and supporters a briefing on the results of a fact finding report on what went wrong and what will be in place to ensure 2021 was not a one year wonder. That might go some way to restoring trust. Now let’s get something out of this season and barrack home our Casey team next week, hopefully re-discovering team spirit and resolve and unearthing some solid up and comers for next year in the process. I do of course look forward to the analysis and discussion tonight.

Enjoying the podcasts gentlemen, your efforts are appreciated. Not so much a question more a topic of discussion if I may. Reflecting on this season and how it stacks up against last season, we finished 2021 H&A games with a percentage of 130.8 We finish 2022 H&A games with a percentage of 130.5 Not wanting to get to get too far ahead of this game but Friday night against the Swans (a very well coached and drilled team), the opportunity to have a finals series like last year begins and wouldn’t it be great if we matched or went close to our 2021 finals campaign percentage of 213.1, or even better eclipse Geelong’s record of 227.1. We’re set up for it. Let’s make history. Last year we arrived at the finals with almost a full list to choose from, this year similar. We came in with momentum last year and I believe that momentum is building in a similar way. The team and football department have got us to where we want to be, the opportunity to repeat last year on our home ground in front of mfc members and fans. I wait with great anticipation. Tried to PM you George, good on you for the shout out to Kongwak last week.

I was at the game and thought a number of our players were not moving freely. Question for the panel: do you also see that? I understand the football dept. adopted the Burgess mantra last year and have continued this year, of resilience(don’t necessarily nurse/rest injuries and niggles, rather continue to train and play through). I also understand these injuries and niggles are monitored by experienced professionals but I am wondering maybe the cumulative effects across the team are starting to impact players Gawn, Trac, Kossie, Lever, Salem, Brayshaw to name a few. Your thoughts please.

I get what you are saying LN and the concept is in the Goody playbook but given our ladder position before and after Friday night it is a high risk strategy, higher than loading and getting that wrong. To give ourselves the best shot in finals we need to finish H&A season on 16 wins, it is then in our own hands to keep winning and play all finals at home, however many that ends up being. I fear Sydney in the finals and would not like to travel to play them, even though we have a good “away” record. If we win an away final what is the impact on the following game of say a Perth trip.

I think our poor forward entries and predictable bang it long to the pocket is down to a game plan devised to overcome our shortage of players who are reliable and skilful in the basic art of the game - kicking. I don’t understand why this issue hasn’t been addressed in our recruiting. Too many of our entries to forward half by foot are up and under kicks that give opposition enough time to impact the result. Salem, reputedly one of the best kicks in the team does not deliver low flat hard kicks, why. Not enough of Mays forward attacking kicks are low, flat and hard, nor Petty, nor Jordan, nor Gus , nor Lever. Is it that difficult for professional footballers to properly execute the basic skill of the game, kicking? Maybe running has overtaken kicking as the basic skill of the game. The fastest way to move a football remains a low flat hard kick.

For a game called football it has always bothered me that so many players who make it to the top echelon, ie.afl, have very poor kicking actions. Particularly in the professional era when talented juniors are identified early, like very early teens, they usually go into relatively elite coaching programs that concentrate on bringing out their potential by developing their skills and temperament. While their bodies are still growing and have not fully developed would surely be the time to correct poor/incorrect actions. Why are elite junior athletes like our very own Max Gawn, Petracca and Oliver arriving as 18 year olds at afl clubs with poor kicking actions. And why do so very very few not have the ability to kick both sides of their body(not to mention handball). I don’t know and would appreciate comments from people “in the know” Then as professional sportspeople working at their sport/craft at least 40 hours per week from the age of 18 very few seem to improve their kicking skills as they mature.

Nobody is irreplaceable, but I would not like to see Yze progress to senior coaching just yet. We have lost enough football ip with the 2 former football dept. staffers to Geelong. Stay a few more years and see more finals campaigns in the red and blue Ooze.

I thought this game; 27 May 2018, Alice Springs where we handed the previous year’s grand finalists a good spanking would have got a mention. “Melbourne were rampant in the 91-point hiding, racking up their fifth consecutive win with the 23.8 (146) to 8.7 (55) victory over last season's beaten grand finalists. It was the first time Melbourne have won back-to-back games by more than 90 points in the club's history, the first time since 1993 that the Demons have won two games in the same season by more than 90 points and also their third victory in a row by more than 10 goals.”

Thanks for posting that podcast Matt D, was terrific insight to the last few years. Our loss of Burgess in a fantastic gain for the Crows. This man oozes character from every sentence.